


There's A Boy In the Forest

by SOBQJMV_Sphinx



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Amnesia, Amnesiac Nico di Angelo, BAMF Eleven | Jane Hopper, BAMF Nico di Angelo, Eleven | Jane Hopper Has Powers, F/M, Gen, M/M, Maxine "Max" Mayfield Has Powers, Maxine "Max" Mayfield Needs a Hug, Multi, Nico di Angelo Needs a Hug, Nico di Angelo has Nightmares, Past Child Abuse, Siblings Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Temporary Amnesia, The Byers Don't Move, Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper Are Twins, Will Byers Has PTSD, Will Byers Has Powers, chapters will get longer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2020-10-01 19:07:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20374813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SOBQJMV_Sphinx/pseuds/SOBQJMV_Sphinx
Summary: There's a boy in the forest.He's unconscious. Has been for days.His clothes are odd for 1987. His shoes, his shirt, his jeans. All of them scream WRONG.He doesn't know how he got there. He doesn't know why. What he does know is that when he wakes, he will fulfill his mission. No matter what.





	1. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *this has just been edited, only minor changes*

There's a boy in the forest.

He's unconscious. Has been for days.

His clothes are odd for 1987. His shoes, his shirt, his jeans. All of them scream WRONG.

He doesn't know how he got here. He doesn't know why. What he does know is that when he wakes, he will fulfill his mission. No matter what.

Steve Harrington woke up to banging on his door. Groaning, he pulled himself out of bed, throwing on the shirt he had hung on the bedpost. 

He moved slowly, unsteadily. No, he was not drunk or hungover. He simply was not a morning person.

Rubbing his eyes, he threw open the front door, wondering hazily who in the world was up at this hour (it was 9 a.m. and they were a week into summer break). 

Six heads shoved their way past him and into the house.

"Morning, Steve!"

"Eggoooossss..."

"Wow, you look drunk."

"Thanks for letting us use your basement!"

"Wait…" Steve mumbled, only just now realizing what was happening. He raised his voice. "Hey, when did I say you could use my basement!"

They were nowhere in sight.

Continuing to speak loudly, he added, "I'll grab some Eggos, just make sure you clean up any messes you make."

A muffled "EGGOS" was the only reply.

"Alright. Eggos. Got it." He turned and headed for the kitchen, wondering how in the world it had become commonplace for six kids to come barging into his house at any hour of the day. Not that he would prefer they not. They were his kids. His family. 

It was half-past two when they came up from the basement. Steve had gone down for a while, of course, but he had yet to understand Dungeons and Dragons, so he had gone back upstairs and watched horror movies while he waited for them to finish their "campaign".

"Hey Harrington!" Dustin exclaimed, the first of the Party to emerge from their cave. "Sorry we stole your basement, man, but we needed a cave where El was able to come, and your place was the first thing we thought of."

"It's fine," he responded with a shrug. "Besides, I never go down there anyway." And the house is usually so quiet, it's a relief to hear them shouting in the basement, he added to himself.

He was about to return to his movie-watching when a shout came from the stairs. Mike.

"El! El, are you alright? Guys, El fainted!"

Steve's maternal instincts kicked in. Abandoning the still-playing movie, he dashed for the stairs, barely a step ahead of Dustin and Lucas. 

Mike and Max were already lifting her off the steps when he got there. Will hung back a bit, looking rather out of place as his friends hauled the girl who had become like a sister to him up the staircase.

Steve took her from them as soon as they reached the top. He may not have won many fights, but he was still stronger than them. Taking a left, he led them to the first-floor guest rooms. 

Mike hovered around him as he lowered her onto the bed, a panicked expression on his face. "Is she going to be okay? Is she going to be okay?" he kept repeating, running his fingers frantically through his hair. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're freaking out and it's making me freak out. She'll be fine, she's El. Breathe."

Mike nodded, slowing his breathing. In… Out… In… Out… In- Out- In- Out-

Steve looked over at Will for help. Quietly, the smaller boy came up to Mike's side, taking his hand. "She'll be fine," he whispered.

He nodded slowly, sinking into the cushioned chair that, besides the bed and a dresser, was the room's only furnishing. 

Satisfied that Mike had calmed enough, Steve returned his attention to the sleeping girl. "Do you have any idea why-" he began, but stopped. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed it before: a thin stream of blood was coming out of El's left nostril.

"Guys, her nose is bleeding."

The Party (barr Mike, who was still in the chair, and Will, who stood dutifully by his side) crowded closer to the bed. 

"She must be using her powers in her sleep!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Maybe something happened, and it triggered her powers, but for some reason it also knocked her out?" Dustin suggested. "Don't you think we should call someone?"

"Who?" Steve snorted. "Joyce?"--Will glanced up at his mother's name--"You know how she gets."

The curly-haired boy sighed. "You're right. I guess we'll just have to wait until she wakes up."st.


	2. The Awakening Part One

Morning took forever to arrive. Sunlight peeked through the windows, landing on seven sleeping figures who occupied the guest room. 

A girl was sound asleep in the bed, her face caked with blood. In the chair next to her was a boy, slumped forward, his hand resting next to hers on the bed. His other hand was loosely held by a smaller boy, the smallest of the group, who was curled up against the chair.

Next to the door was an older boy, his nail-bat resting in his lap as he leaned against the wall, drool slowly running down from his mouth. At his feet, a curly-haired boy with a ball cap on was curled into a ball, a thin sheet carefully draped over him.

Finally, a dark-skinned boy and a red-haired girl lay side-by-side on the floor, taking up what was pretty much the only space left in the room. 

Then 011 started screaming.

She was in the woods behind Steve's house. She followed the course set for her, not knowing how she knew it, simply following the pull. 

She was just reaching the darkest part of the forest when the sea of trees opened up into a clearing. A circle of alternating black and white poplars edged the glade, a stark contrast to the native oaks and maples. Within that, a circle of stones, all carved with the same symbol, seeming to leak darkness from the glowing black engravings.

In the middle, a boy. He couldn't be much older than her, but something about him told her that he had experienced far worse than anyone deserved. His black hair stood up in tufts, mimicking baby bat wings. His pale skin was almost gray and his veins stuck out, giving him the appearance of a living corpse.

He wore a brown leather jacket over a black shirt, and was clad in black jeans and black boots. A black backpack lay a little to his left. Hanging from his belt was a sword, and on his finger a silver ring in the shape of a skull. One hand held the beaded necklace he wore, the other had a knife loosely drooping from his grip. 

None of these things scared her, not even the weapons. Not even the fact that the shadows seemed to cling to him, to wrap him as if in a blanket.

What made her scream was what stood over him. She didn't recognize it, but she knew. The Upside-Down. 

Everything went black.

El's scream startled everyone awake. Steve sprung to his feet, bat at the ready, accidentally stepping on Dustin in the process. Lucas and Max jumped up at the same time, crashing into each other. Mike woke in a frenzy, scared of what might have happened and pulling Will up with him.

Everyone relaxed once they realized that they were still alone. There wasn't a demogorgon pulling itself out of the wall, or a Russian spy with a gun to El's head. 

El rubbed her eyes groggily, wondering why everyone was in her room. That was when she realized--she wasn't in her room. She wrinkled her nose. Why was it morning? Last she remembered they were playing D&D in Steve's basement…

"El, you're awake!"

It took about two hours for the kids to call their worried parents and explain why they were gone (omitting some important details, of course). Will and El had it the worst—Joyce had essentially demanded that they come home right that second. It took quite a bit of persuasion (including some input from Steve) to convince her that they could stay there until 10:30, giving them approximately two and a half hours to get everything figured out. 

El had just finished telling them about her dream, during which Steve fixed them scrambled eggs and Eggos.

“So you’re saying there’s a boy lying unconscious in the woods behind my house, and if we don’t find him by sunset then this new thing that somehow managed to sneak out of the Upside-Down will absorb his life energy?” Steve asked, somewhat incredulous. 

She nodded. She knew it sounded untrue, but she also knew that they would believe her. It wasn’t much weirder than Will being possessed.

Speaking of Will, something was off about him today. She just couldn’t tell what.

“But you said that the shadows were clinging to him! He could actually be the Mind Flayer in disguise!” Lucas protested, slicing through her thoughts like a knife. 

“I don’t think that It’s strong enough.” This was Dustin. “Besides, I believe El.” He grinned at her.

“If there’s even a chance that someone’s in danger then we should do what we can to help,” Max added adamantly. “I’m in.”

Despite his misgivings, Lucas nodded reluctantly. “I’m in.” There were nods all around. 

“We’ll go looking, but breakfast comes first,” Steve scolded, setting out plates. They groaned, but dutifully settled down. Breakfast would come first, but as soon as they were done… adventure awaited!

Will slumped in his seat. He had felt off all morning. He assumed that it was because of what El had seen.

He was only half-right.

The longevity of his time in the Upside-Down had had a bigger effect than PTSD. It had remained buried within him, waiting for the right moment to be free.

That time was coming. And it was coming fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will be pretty much random. I'm planning to fill Chapter Six with short one-shots (Steve & Robin, Steve & His Kids, Will & El, and other bromance/sibling/fluffy short bits) so if anyone would be willing to submit one to me at lotsoffandoms2love@gmail.com that would be greatly appreciated. It would definitely speed up updating and I'll make sure to give credit. If you do this, note that (a) Will and Max don't use powers publicly/know they have them yet, and (b) Nico is a sleepy boi in a bed at Steve's house.


	3. The Embarking

Steve hung up the phone for the billionth time that morning. He’d just talked to Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan, (individually, of course), telling them that El had a feeling and if he didn’t call back by 10:30 to come looking. He knew it was probably unnecessary, but he wasn’t willing to take the risk of something happening to the kids. 

The kids were already assembled by the back door. Their backpacks were loaded down with everything they thought might be necessary. 

Steve just brought his bat.

They were all obviously rather nervous about venturing into the very woods that Will and Barb had disappeared from, but they tried to hide it. Will, Mike, and El walked together in a sort of huddle, followed by Lucas flirting with a teasing Max. Dustin slowed to walk Steve.

“So…”

“Guess we’re back at it again!” Dustin joked.

“Yeah. Definitely could’ve gone without anymore of this.” Steve sighed. “Why can’t we just– be left alone! What is it about Hawkins that makes these people—and things—want to come here?” He sighed again. He’d been doing that a lot, he noticed.

Dustin was quiet for a moment.

“I guess Hawkins has an aura, or something, that attracts these things.”

Steve let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, some aura.”

El and Max were walking next to each other now.

“This… thing, what did it look like?”

“It was sort of… tall. Taller than Hop— Dad. And… gray. And it sort of… floated?”

Max nodded slowly. “You know, that sounds kinda like a Psychophagus. From a book I read,” she added as an afterthought.

El looked at her hopefully. “Is there any way to kill it?”

Her expression sank. “I don’t remember.”

The other girl gave her a slight smile. “We’ll figure it out.”

Max smiled back. “Yeah,” she murmured, nodding.

They continued in silence for a little while.

“Hey, Max, El! We need you to judge which of us is a better tracker!”

Exchanging glances, both girls burst out laughing.

No matter what happened, boys would be boys. 

Towering maples spread around them as the seven trekked through the woods. It felt as if they’d been walking for hours when Lucas stopped. “Do you hear that?”

Dustin slowed next to him. “No, I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly. We’ve been hearing birds and squirrels, but now… Nothing.”

Behind them, Will and El gripped each other’s hands. “We’re getting close,” he said.

No one asked how he knew. They could all feel it.

They started walking again, but this time no one spoke.

No one commented as the trees became crowded and bare. Dustin clicked a flashlight on when the darkness became too much. They walked closer together as the cold became unbearable. The stench of rot filled the air.

Something snapped, making them all jump. The Party didn’t relax much when they realized that Steve had stepped on a stick. They were all on edge. And it would only get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry my chapters are still so short. I haven't worked on it since I last updated, so I wrote this a while ago. I have a few more chapters completed, so don't worry about too much of a lack of updating, at least not for a few months, but I really need some inspiration. Thank you to anyone who left comments!


	4. The Finding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back broskis

Long shadows fell across the path as the group trudged on. Even the sun seemed to have abandoned them, Dustin’s flashlight providing the only light. They walked in a sort of clump now, relying on each other for warmth and protection.

After a while El spoke. “Closer.” She didn’t say any more, and the silence was deafening, but no one dared break it. They were all glad when the trees opened up into a clearing.

The light filtering through the trees looked suspiciously like moonlight, but their focus was taken by the boy. He looked even closer to death than the last time El had seen him, which was not a good sign. As Max ran forward to check his pulse, and Steve lifted him up, and Mike and Lucas and Dustin gathered his belongings, El stared at the back of the glade, where another path led away.

Next to her, Will spoke up. “Is it here?”

Continuing to stare, she replied “Not yet. Soon.”

Dustin, hearing her, ordered the others to hurry up. “We don’t want to be monster food, do we? Pick up the pace!”

Eleven's heart didn’t stop pounding until they were almost out of the Dark section. Mike squeezed her hand reassuringly. She smiled back at him.

“Don’t worry,” he said quietly. “We’re safe. _ We’re safe. _”

Their spirits had lifted sky-high by the time they reached Steve’s house, and that was clear in the ruckus and shouts emerging from the forest.

“Hey! El, make them stop!”

“~A neverending story~”

“Hey! Hey! Listen up, shitheads—not only has Dustin got a girlfriend, he’s managed to keep her, which is more than can be said for you guys.”

More shouts ensued in response as they came out into the open. Suddenly they were busy, holding open doors and readying the room they had spent the past night in. The sight of three cars in the driveway brought them into a panic as they realized just how long they’d been gone.

In seconds, they were unloading their SuperComms and turning them on and telling the others that it was alright, they were alright, come back.

Steve carried the boy into the room and laid him gently on the bed. Max came up behind him and he stepped aside, letting her check for injuries as the kids returned. The announcement she made as everyone crowded into the room was a shock to everyone.

“No injuries.”

They were all quiet for a moment, then:

“Why won’t he wake up?”

Max paced back and forth. “It’s the Psychophagus. It has to be. But… they can’t put people to sleep. Not like that.” El and Will had they got back, Jonathan driving them.

Dustin and Steve leaned against the wall, the former thinking, the latter trying to look like he knew what they were talking about. Mike had gone home with Nancy.

Lucas passed on a line next to his girlfriend, but they had started at different times, so they didn’t often align.

“Or maybe something else made him fall asleep? Like another creature.”

“Or maybe he’s just a sound sleeper?” Robin suggested offhandedly from where she lay on the couch.

Dustin spoke for the first time since Max had started pacing. “Sedative.”

Both pacers froze and looked at him.

“What’s that?”

Everyone sighed collectively at Steve’s ignorance.

Max explained it. “It’s a shot or a drink or something you breathe that puts you to sleep and makes it hard to wake up.”

“You mean like at hospitals?”

She nodded.

The kids went back to talking. 

“Maybe Steve’s right, and he was in the hospital for something.”

“Or he was being held prisoner by evil Russians!”

Lucas wasn’t joining in. He focused his gaze on the hallway, where he knew the kid lay asleep in bed. “Or maybe he knows something.”

Dustin was the last to leave. He hugged Steve, leaving him one instruction, with a threat hidden in it. “Keep him safe.”

Keep him safe, Steve thought as he opened the package he’d found next to the front door.

He smiled as he pulled off the tissue paper. The kids had made it clear that he was free to use the ones in their rooms, but it felt wrong. And they’d realized it.

He held in his hands a SuperComm. A note was taped to it, written in Will’s best handwriting.

We figured you could use this.

In the room she shared with Will, El smiled.


End file.
